Do bees really visit tomato flowers or not?

[travis]

I think what Michael Johnson said above is on to it ... honey bees are workin' flowers for the collective unit and once the scout bees discover a good source, they return to the hive and communicate the location to the other gatherers who then make a beeline to that source. Apparently, tomato flowers are not a preferred source.

PV

[dcarch]

This is a very important topic for tomato growers.

When I was taught the birds and the bees, I seem to remember that bees can see UV light, and different flowers reflect UV light differently to attract different kinds of insects for their mutual benefit.

So I took a flowering pot of tomato plant inside a dark room and shone a UV light on it. Well the blossom looked very dull under UV light.

Would this have anything to do with it?

I only used a long wave UV (black light), so I don’t know if shortwave UV light will make a difference.

dcarch

[feldon30]

I've got a bottlebrush bush/tree. I've never seen so many bees.

dcarch,

Think of UV as just another color. Red, Green, Blue, Violet, Ultraviolet. We can't see it, but it shows up as another color on the flower. Flowers use that color to attract bees.

http://dpfwiw.com/flowers.htm#uv